


A Bit Tied Up

by ericsonclan



Series: OG World [64]
Category: The Walking Dead (Telltale Video Game)
Genre: F/M, First Meetings, Trapped
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-22
Updated: 2020-11-22
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:26:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27674683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ericsonclan/pseuds/ericsonclan
Summary: Gabe is out in the woods when suddenly he falls victim to a hidden trap and here's someone approaching...
Relationships: Nurgul/Gabe (Walking Dead: Ties That Bind)
Series: OG World [64]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1815361
Kudos: 4





	A Bit Tied Up

**Author's Note:**

> (by Laura)

Gabe sighed as he ventured further into the forest. He hadn’t been able to find Jimmy anywhere. The one rule of the buddy system – the whole point of the buddy system really – was not to leave your buddy so that you’d have someone to watch your back. But of course Jimmy had run ahead like an idiot to investigate something and now they were separated. He couldn’t return to the main group without him and he couldn’t call out to him for fear of drawing muertos so Gabe was stuck aimlessly walking through the forest looking for his truant buddy.

As Gabe wandered deeper into the forest and off the road, he looked around to make sure he knew his way back and didn’t have any muertos on his tail. He could only afford to go so far and then it would be too dangerous to continue. He’d have to report back to the main group and get their help in tracking down Jimmy. But Gabe didn’t want to have to face Javi and tell him he’d lost his buddy. After two years of going on scouting missions, Gabe should be able to do something as simple as keep track of his buddy, even one as squirrely as Jimmy.

He was walking by a tree when he heard it: a soft thunk as if something was shifting and an almost imperceptible whooshing sound. Before he could react, Gabe felt himself being lifted into the air. He let out a surprised cry as his body flipped upside down as he rocketed upwards, bouncing a bit before settling several feet in the air. Glancing up with effort, Gabe could just make out the rope that had caught and held his foot. Considering how tight it felt on his leg, he wasn’t slipping loose anytime soon.

Taking a deep breath, Gabe mustered all his strength and tried to lift himself far enough to reach his ankle. He only made it up a few inches though before flopping back in defeat. Gritting his teeth, Gabe tried again and again, but he couldn’t get anywhere close to his ankle. For all the apocalypse had done in terms of toughening him up, his upper body strength was still shit. His knife had also dropped from his hands when the trap yanked him off his feet. It lay useless on the ground beneath him.

So… what now? Was Jimmy anywhere nearby? Would he find help and cut Gabe down? Or would Javi and the rest of the surveillance team realize he was missing and track him down? Given his current predicament, there was no way Gabe could risk calling for help. In his current position if a muerto came by, he was as dead as a sitting duck. He’d have to wait and hope that the blood rushing to his head wouldn’t cause him to pass out before he was found.

A rustling noise came from the bushes in front of him. Gabe’s heart immediately skyrocketed. What was that? If it was anyone other than the New Richmond group, he was dead. He hadn’t even considered the possibility that whoever set this trap might check it before help arrived. _Please let it be a rabbit. Please let it be a rabbit,_ Gabe repeated to himself as he desperately wriggled in hopes of breaking free. All that accomplished was setting his body in a slow spin, blocking Gabe’s view of where the sound was coming from. He’d have no way to defend himself if attacked from behind, not even his hands. Wiggling frantically, Gabe tried to speed his spin so he was facing forward again.

By the time he’d made it full circle, Gabe found himself face to face with a stranger. It was a girl with short black hair and dark brown eyes. She looked to be about his age. Gabe’s eyes widened in shock at the sight. Before he could say anything though, he realized that his continued wiggling had increased his momentum. His body was still spinning. Going slack, Gabe tried to get himself to stop. Instead he only slowed his second circuit, rotating at a crawl until he finally stopped in front of the girl once more.

Her face was a few inches above his own. Looking Gabe over, the girl seemed to eye him with curiosity. Gabe noted the knife she held within her hand, not raised but still drawn. The girl didn’t speak for what felt like forever to Gabe, simply observing him as he dangled upside down before her. But finally, her mouth opened. “You’re not a rabbit,” A mischievous grin pulled at her lips. “That’s alright. I’m not picky,”

 _Fuck. Shit. She’s gonna eat me!_ If Gabe hadn’t been in full-blown panic before, he certainly was now. Starting to writhe in desperation, he screamed out for help. “Javi! Jimmy! Anybody! He-” He was cut off as a hand pressed harshly against his mouth, the other holding the back of his head in place.

“Shit, sorry!” the girl exclaimed, looking at him apologetically. “Should’ve realized how that joke would come across in your position. If I uncover your mouth, do you promise you won’t scream and send more stumblers our way?”

Gabe could still feel his heart trying to beat its way out of his chest. Between the terror and the blood rush to his head, he didn’t feel like he was thinking straight at all. But the girl’s eyes were calm as she spoke to him. She was right – screaming would get them both killed. The only thing he could do was helplessly nod.

“Thank you,” The girl removed the hand over Gabe’s mouth, taking a small step back. “Not the smoothest introduction I’ve ever made, though surprisingly not the worst. I’m Nurgul. And you are?”

“Dizzy,”

“Crap, that’s right! Here, let me fix that for you. I’m not sure if I can give you the softest landing, but I’ll try to break your fall. Just let me reach up and…” the girl grunted in effort as she tried to reach the rope. “Got it! You’ll be down in just a sec,” After a few seconds of sawing, the rope began to fray. Gabe could feel the weight on his ankle shifting before suddenly the remaining rope snapped in half. Gabe fell straight down, expecting a rough collision, but instead heard a soft grunt and felt arms wrap round him. Tumbling to the ground, Gabe felt his head spin for a moment as he tried to get his bearings. His head was lowered onto the forest floor before the girl’s face hovered over his again – Nurgul.

“Doing OK?” she asked, looking somewhat concerned at his current state.

“Y-yeah,” Gabe tried to sit up only to fall back on the ground with a moan, his head pounding.

“Don’t try to move yet. I think your body needs time to adjust the blood flow. How long were you upside down for?” Nurgul sat down beside Gabe on the ground, her knife now tucked in the sheath at her hip.

“A few minutes, I think? It wasn’t that long,” Gabe looked round them, wondering if anyone else would be coming searching for him or Nurgul.

As if reading his mind, Nurgul answered his unspoken question. “I have a group. Quite a large one actually. Do you?”

Gabe searched Nurgul’s eyes, wondering what the right answer was. He shouldn’t show all his cards, but he didn’t want to come across as helpless either. “I have a group too. They’re probably looking for me now,”

“In that case, I should probably head out back to my people and leave you to find yours. Think you can defend yourself if you need to?”

Gabe glanced over at his dagger on the ground beside him. Grasping it, he weakly nodded.

Nurgul seemed unconvinced. “I’ll give you a few more minutes, at least till you can sit upright. But If I see anyone, I’m booking it out of here,” Scooting over, she sat beside the tree, resting her head against the trunk.

Gabe watched her curiously. To his knowledge, there weren’t any communities anywhere near here. Yet if she was checking a rabbit trap, it must mean that her group had somewhat settled down in this region and she said the group was quite large. Could it be a community they hadn’t heard of yet? New Richmond had made contact with all known ones in the area and tried to establish positive relationships with each one.

“What’s on your mind?” Nurgul’s gaze was even as she looked back at him.

“Your name,” Gabe lied. “It’s unusual,”

“I’ll take that as a compliment. It’s Kazakh. It means “moon flower”. Now that I think about it, I never got your name. Unless it’s actually Dizzy which would be pretty funny,”

“It’s Gabe. Or Gabriel if we’re being formal,”

“What does it mean?”

Gabe’s forehead wrinkled in thought. “I actually have no idea,”

Nurgul chuckled at that. “How’s your head feeling? Can you sit up now?”

“Probably,” Gabe’s head still pounded a bit as he shifted into a sitting position, but after a few seconds of stillness he felt like he could handle it.

“So…” Nurgul dragged the toe of her shoe through the dirt before looking up at him. “Is your group passing through or are they here to stay?”

There was the question they were both dancing around. The more they showed their cards, the more they risked the other turning on them if they thought they could get something out of it. Looking at Nurgul though, Gabe didn’t sense any hostility. With matters like this, it was better to go with your gut than let paranoia set in. “We’re scouting the area. We live nearby. And your group? Passing through or staying?”

It was clear Nurgul was considering her answer carefully. “We may settle down if we can find something that works,”

She wasn’t part of a community then, just a group. She’d said they were large though, but what did “large” mean. Gabe decided to go for it; if they were to become neighbors, better to meet them now.

“And how many are in your group?”

Nurgul glanced his way before looking to the side. “Sixty three,”

“Sixty- sixty three? And you haven’t settled down in a community yet?” Gabe asked in disbelief.

“We are a community. Or were. Our home was lost to another community. It was either flee or be taken prisoner. So we ran,”

Gabe had heard stories like this. Most ended with far fewer survivors though, lone wanderers who told the story of their entire community being slaughtered. A war was spreading along the coast, one that New Richmond and its allies prayed to avoid. For an entire community to escape with that many living survivors from the war zone was unheard of. That either meant they had travelled a great distance or that the war was far close than New Richmond had expected. Looking over a Nurgul, Gabe could tell that the memory of their flight had saddened her. “I’m sorry for your loss,”

“Thank you,” Nurgul eyed Gabe with caution before speaking further. “Is your group friendly? Because you seem friendly. But then again, you can never really know these days,”

Gabe shrugged. “I think we’re friendly. A couple years back before I got there, the group was actually a lot worse. But leadership changed and…” Gabe paused, the memory of his father’s death flooding his senses. Shaking his head, he cleared his mind. “Things got better. My uncle is in charge now, along with some others on the council. He’s a really nice guy,”

Nurgul nodded thoughtfully. “That’s good. We don’t want to settle somewhere only to lose it all again. We’re not trespassing on anyone’s territory, right? Are we on your community’s land?”

Gabe shook his head. “No, you’re still a good distance from us. I’m not sure if this is the best place to settle though. The hills round here sort of form a basin and when herds pass through here, they get sort of stuck for a while. Plus there’s no buildings round here sturdy enough to withstand a herd. We came over this way to map things out and look for resources, but I don’t think we’d ever settle anyone here, not even a base of operations,”

“Oh,” Nurgul’s voice was soft, her eyes somewhat sad. It was clear she was worried for her people. Looking at the layer of dirt on her skin and clothes, it seemed they’d been on the road for a while. She must be eager to settle somewhere safe.

Gabe could relate. He never wanted to go back to the life he’d lived on the road with his family for the first four years since the world ended. “I don’t know how much it would help, but maybe my uncle could meet with your leader and help you guys find somewhere to settle. We want to know all the neighboring communities that live nearby us so we can all help each other out and, well,” Gabe paused, wondering if it was too sensitive a topic to bring up.

“What is it?”

“If your community left because of the war going on down south, my uncle would probably want to hear details about that as well so we can prepare in case it spreads,”

Nurgul’s expression was grim. “I pray it never reaches you. The things that are happening down there…” she shook her head. It was beyond words. “I’ll speak with my leader, let him know that I met someone who might be able to help. But if you don’t live nearby, how will we be able to contact you?”

Gabe considered that for a moment. “There’s a road about a quarter mile from here. If you head down the road another mile, you get to what used to be one of those scenic overlooks. It’s called Pleasant Point. You tell your leader about us and I’ll tell my uncle. If we decide we want to meet your group, we’ll send people to that spot in three days. They can talk strategy then,”

“Sounds like a sound plan,” Nurgul rose to her feet, smiling as Gabe did the same. “Headache’s all gone?”

“Yep, back to normal,” Gabe rolled his neck round as proof.

“Good. Well, I hope to see you again, Gabe, if all goes well. It was a pleasure capturing you,”

“The pleasure was all mine,” Gabe replied before realizing how awkward that sounded and tugging self-consciously on the corner of his beanie.

Nurgul chuckled at the gesture. “Until we meet again,” With that she was off, quickly disappearing amongst the underbrush once more. Gabe was left alone, watching the place where she’d disappeared. That had certainly been an odd interaction. Now he really had to get back to the group though. Hopefully Jimmy had found his way back as well. The sky had begun to take on an orange tint; they wouldn’t have light much longer. Walking back toward the road, Gabe wondered how Javi would take the news of the girl he had met and the story she’d told. He hoped coming across her had been a good thing. If what Nurgul said had been true, her group may have crucial information to the future of New Richmond. And Gabe was determined to protect his home, no matter what.


End file.
